oppositional defiance disorder

[lilipad]

has anyone got any expereince of this its a new one on me, ds has been diagnosed but never heard of it before and don't know anyone who has

This is one that I don't think is a 'true' disorder It came from the states and became very trendy when I lived there for any child that said 'no' or teenager that defied their parnets - In middle class suburbia, saying 'no' to a parent is practically unforgiveable and they all talk about 'attitide' etc.
There are always some children who say no who every bloody thing. My eldest was like that from birth. She's now 16 anda total pain in the butt. There's some that would label her ODD but its just the way she is, defiant and always thinks she is right.
Getting a disorder label is going OTT IMO.

I have read the Explosive Child and the theory behind the techniques described is actually quite simple (the book is a bit long-winded though)but like a lot of simple things disceptively hard to put into practice; I think it does make a positive difference though, we still have meltdowns sometimes but we seem to be able to resolve them better. I agree with NMC that it is not a true disorder, I have also heard of one called intermittant explosive disorder, I think I have that one. If you want to learn more there is an american website called "shadow syndrome kids" which is a bit like the US version of this section of mumsnet, quite illuminating to compare attitudes and treatments etc.

www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/children_with_oppositional_defiant_disorder

This is a good link on ODD.

I should probably have said an over-diagnosed (in the states anyway) disorder rather than not a disorder, (trying not to offend anyone).

you could label absolutely any aspect of human behaviour. Some kids are easy -going 'passive non-confrontational disorder', others want more attention 'need anxiety dsorder'
No-one is 'normal.

I've have had dealings as a teacher with two pupils who have had this condition diagnosed, one of which has a background that you wouldn't wish on an animal let alone a person and the resulting ODD stems from a need to control his environment as he has been unable to do so in the past. The other kid we had through with it was adopted to a very nice family who have another son who is also adopted and lovely. He unfortunatly was very very tricky and things have not gone well and he left school and, I think, his family. I'm not sure what this was down to and I don't know anything about his very early history pre adoption - whether something may have been underlying. I have to say that both were very very tricky to deal with in school and did have a number of exclusions. The carers in both situations also had many difficulties as well. I think it is a condition which probablly requires very careful management, understanding and therapy.

I would say that both the kids that I have taught are very different kettles of fish to the average bolshy, naughty teenager and therefore would say that this is a 'real' condition but one that possibly is somewhat flexible in it's diagnosis (a bit like dyslexia). Similar to ADHD would be the nearest I could get to. I think that diagnosis might depend on a psychologists or paed's background and specialisms. It is certainly more common in the US than here.

Sorry, I haven't helped much and hope I haven't made you feel bad. These two chaps are probablly nothing like your child - they also had some other complex stuff as well.